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$xhtml = array(
	'<{title}>' => 'Weblogging about chronic pain and illness',
	'<{subtitle}>' => 'Written in <span title="Introduction to Health Psychology (previously known as Introduction to Human Psychology)">PSYC 1111</span> by <a href="https://y.st./">Alexand(er|ra) Yst</a>, finalised on 2018-10-10',
	'<{copyright year}>' => '2018',
	'takedown' => '2017-11-01',
	'<{body}>' => <<<END
<h2>A quick note</h2>
<p>
	This week&apos;s assignment revolves around the content of the Ressler (which addressed the positive effects of weblogging about chronic pain and illness) material assigned to us for to read.
	As I mentioned in the discussion assignment though, the website hosting that material is blocking me.
	I have had no way to access the material, so I have zero context for this assignment.
	I was also unable to read some of the other material for the week due to a similar $a[IP] address block.
	The only reading assignment for the week I was able to actually access was the Ogden textbook, which is hosted on this university&apos;s own website, which doesn&apos;t seem to discriminate against any particular $a[IP] addresses like some websites do.
	I&apos;ll try to do my best to draw conclusions based on my own experiences, but don&apos;t be surprised if I miss key points from the material that I&apos;m not able to access.
</p>
<h2>Coping</h2>
<p>
	Personally, I&apos;ve found my own weblog to be of great benefit to me in coping with the various issues I deal with.
	I don&apos;t have chronic pain or illness on my plate, but I did grow up in a toxic home, I live in a ghetto, and I have to deal with a number of obnoxious and harmful entities.
	I face censorship from this school.
	I&apos;ve have had to come to terms with the fact that the people I thought were my friends actually aren&apos;t there for me.
	I&apos;ve even had to deal with changes in my own mind as my homosexual side awakened.
	Through all of this and more, my weblog has acted as an outlet for my emotions as well as a way to work through my thoughts.
	By trying to put things into words, I find myself thinking more deeply about issues, and often even come up with solutions I couldn&apos;t come up with all day when I sit down to write at night.
	A journal such as a weblog is an excellent tool both for solving problems and for dealing with the emotions caused by yet-to-be-solved problems.
</p>
<p>
	There have regularly been times that something terrible has happened that would have normally gotten me down pretty badly, but I&apos;ve been able to brush them off with the thought &quot;at least this will make good weblog fuel&quot;.
	In a way, my journal allows me to give meaning to otherwise meaningless suffering and conflict.
	If you&apos;ve used a journal similarly, it&apos;s easy to see how weblogging about one&apos;s chronic pain or chronic illness could help immensely.
	Through giving meaning to your suffering doesn&apos;t make the pain any less (at least in my case), it certainly make the pain much easier to work through.
	At least some good is coming from your suffering.
	Journaling is incredibly therapeutic.
</p>
<p>
	Ogden also argues that when you give meaning to your pain, your pain is lessened (Ogden, 2017).
	I have never once experienced this myself, but then again, maybe I&apos;m an outlier.
	I mean, most people don&apos;t even feel pain in dreams, but from a young age, I have <strong>*always*</strong> felt pain from in-dream events.
	I might be processing pain a bit differently than most people.
	In any case, for people that can lessen their pain by giving it meaning, weblogging about their pain and illness can be used for such a purpose.
	These people can feel that they&apos;re helping others like themselves get through such conditions (regardless of whether this is true or not), which gives their suffering meaning, which in turn lessens the suffering.
	I don&apos;t think many such journals are actually helpful to potential readers, but they don&apos;t need to be.
	Weblogs are often for the benefit of the writer, not always the reader.
</p>
<h2>Social support</h2>
<p>
	Depending on the format, a weblog can also be a place that involves social interaction and community-building.
	Personally, my own weblog is just a public journal.
	Readers are unable to interact with it directly, though my email address in on the site for any that wish to contact me.
	However, most weblogs are constructed using actual weblogging software, such as Wordpress.
	These journals facilitate social interaction through publicly-visible comments.
	In the case of particularly helpful and well-written weblogs that are actually of benefit to the community, these interacting audiences can grow quite large and add tips and tricks of their own.
	Even the most humble of interactive weblogs about chronic conditions can receive a comment or two from a well-wisher and sympathiser though, providing a little social support to the sufferer.
</p>
<h2>Control</h2>
<p>
	A weblog can provide a sense of control in several ways.
	While it may not allow one to directly control their suffering, it does offer them a way to control how they respond to it.
	They can use the suffering as a creative inspiration instead of an excuse to lie around in bed, and this healthier response can make it less likely for the condition to get worse, or make the worsening a bit slower.
	As Ogden says, lying around in bed causes one to focus more on their condition, which trains the brain to feel the pain to a greater extent than it otherwise would (Ogden, 2017).
	By forcing yourself to get up and write about it, you&apos;re keeping your mind focussed on something productive.
	I hesitate to call this a distraction from the pain, seeing as what you&apos;re specifically writing about is your chronic pain or illness, but in a way, it is sort of a distraction.
</p>
<h2>Stress</h2>
<p>
	It&apos;s widely-known that expressing oneself is a great way to relieve stress.
	This can be stress related to anything, including but not limited to chronic pain or illness.
	Some of us don&apos;t have the support network we really need for this though.
	A weblog provides this stress-reducing emotional outlet without the need for live people.
	Personally, I&apos;ve frequently found my sour moods turned around by my writing.
	It matters little whether people read my journal or not.
	The point is to get it out there, not get people to care.
	Even just planning what I&apos;m going to write can change my mood drastically at work.
	When dealing with a stressful situation, I take small notes to remind myself what I need to cover when I get home, and I often return pretty quickly to my usual, happy self.
	Just knowing I&apos;ll get my time to rant, even of only to an uncaring Internet, does me immense emotional good.
	And there&apos;s no reason to think I&apos;m alone in feeling that way.
</p>
<h2>Personality</h2>
<p>
	Personality can have a large impact on how weblogging can help you as well.
	A type A person will often think themself better than experts and will have a tendency to be hostile (Ogden, 2017).
	Such people can get out their aggression by unloading on an uncaring machine, rather than a human being that they can emotionally hurt.
	And thinking themself an expert, the machine also willingly lends its ear to them to express their alleged wisdom.
</p>
<p>
	Personally, I&apos;m more of a type B.
	My own journal doesn&apos;t help in this regard because it doesn&apos;t have commenting functionality, but for a more standard weblog using actual weblogging software, a type B could elicit help from readers.
	They can take in advice from more-knowledgable people.
	With or without a comments section though, a weblog provides a great medium through which we can express ourselves without facing the constant interruption of people that think they know our own situation better than we who are living it without giving us a chance to actually relay the full set of important details.
	I can&apos;t stand competing just to get a word out.
	We can actually fully get our thoughts out <strong>*before*</strong> dealing with people that may or may not know how to help.
	It shouldn&apos;t be that hard to get something off our chests without being interrupted half a dozen times, but often times, when talking in person, it&apos;s completely impossible.
</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>
	A journal, such as a weblog, is a great tool for getting through just about any sort of problem, including chronic pain and chronic illness.
	Pain and illness isn&apos;t a special case when it comes to journaling, but journaling is incredibly therapeutic in general.
	Personally, I think even people with fairly low-stress lives could benefit from starting up a weblog.
</p>
<div class="APA_references">
	<h2>References:</h2>
	<p>
		Ogden, J. (2017). The Psychology of Health and Illness: An Open Access Course. Retrieved from <a href="https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/326138/mod_book/chapter/166764/Ogden-The_psychology_of_health_and_illness.pdf"><code>https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/326138/mod_book/chapter/166764/Ogden-The_psychology_of_health_and_illness.pdf</code></a>
	</p>
</div>
END
);
